Avery Dennison, CCL complete $500 million deal

Avery Dennison Corp. has completed the sale of its Office and Consumer Products and Designed and Engineered Solutions businesses to CCL Industries Inc. for $500 million. Pasadena-based Avery Dennison says it expects net proceeds from the sale of about $400 million, which it plans to use to repurchase shares and make an additional pension plan contribution. The deal is subject to customary closing adjustments and is expected to be finalized during the third quarter.

Toronto-based CCL, says the office and consumer products division, which makes labels, binders and writing instruments such as Hi-Liters and Marks-A-Lot, will drop the Avery Dennison name and be called Avery. The company named CCL’s Jim Sellors as president of Avery North America. Sellors most recently was group vice president of CCL’s North American and Australian healthcare and specialty label business. In addition, Mark Cooper was named vice president and managing director for Avery in Europe and Asia Pacific and will join CCL in August from Bong AB, a European envelope supplier. Cooper previously spent more than 20 years at Avery Dennison mostly in its office and consumer products sector in Europe and the United States.

The Designed & Engineered Solutions business, which makes pressure sensitive materials, films and adhesives, will be integrated into CCL’s label reporting segment. Acquired operations involved in the automotive and consumer durables markets will trade as CCL Design alongside the company’s existing business in Germany. Remaining facilities will be added to the market sector business units of CCL Label. CCL Container will continue as the third reporting segment of the company.

Last year Avery Dennison agreed to sell its office products division to 3M for $550 million. That deal collapsed in October after the US Justice Department threatened to block the transaction out of antitrust concerns, saying the merger would have given 3M more than 80 percent of the US labels and sticky notes markets.

Avery Dennison has operations in more than 50 countries and 30,000 employees worldwide. The company reported sales from continuing operations of $6 billion in 2012. CCL Industries employs about 9,800 people and operates 87 production facilities in 25 countries, with corporate offices in Toronto and Framingham, MA.